The possibility is increasing that FY25 Title II funding to support teacher and principal effectiveness will be delayed or otherwise diverted for the upcoming school year.

FY25 education funding was finalized just before the National School Leaders Advocacy Conference and K-12 programs were maintained at existing levels from the previous year, including Title II. However, due to a legislative drafting quirk, the final bill indicated level funding for Title II but did not actually specify the amount appropriated ($2.19 billion). This has happened in the past with full year Continuing Resolution funding bills. The administration in office has historically abided by the obvious congressional funding intent. This year, the Trump administration is considering its options to use the Title II funds for some other purpose because of this ambiguity. The National Association of Elementary School Principals and other national groups sent a letter to Education Secretary Linda McMahon urging her to send the approved Title II funding out to states and districts as per usual.

Congressional appropriations leaders are aware of the issue and are monitoring the situation. Title II is a program the first Trump administration sought to eliminate.

FY26 funding On May 2, the Trump administration put out a broad outline of its FY26 funding proposal known as a “skinny budget.”

The key takeaways are that funding for IDEA and Title I will be maintained at existing levels. The budget does call for consolidating IDEA subprograms into a single IDEA grant.

The budget would eliminate the Title III English Language Acquisition grants ($890 million). It would also consolidate 18 other K-12 programs into a $2 billion block grant with a net cut in funding of $4.5 billion. The 18 programs are unspecified but presumably include Title II, Title IV, and 21st Century Community Learning Centers, among others.

Head Start was not mentioned in the budget at all. Press reports earlier indicated that the budget would eliminate Head Start, so this is encouraging though not definitive.

Initial congressional reaction to the budget plan has been skeptical, though Congress appears more favorably disposed to funding cuts than was the case in the first Trump term.

Secretary McMahon will be testifying before Congress about the budget at the end of May giving the House and Senate committees a chance to dig into the details.

Budget reconciliation Congress is in the process of making the 2017 Trump tax cuts permanent at a cost of approximately $5 trillion. To offset that loss of revenue, Congress is considering approximately $2 trillion in cuts to mandatory spending programs like Medicaid, school meals and student financial aid. The legislative process is called “budget reconciliation” and it allows the Senate to pass the bill with a simple majority vote (and not the 60-vote filibuster threshold).

Since most K-12 education programs are not mandatory spending (but are funded through the annual appropriations process), budget reconciliation does not have a direct impact on K-12 schools.

However, schools receive more than $7 billion in Medicaid reimbursements annually for health services provided to Medicaid eligible students and for IDEA-related services and personnel. Large Medicaid cuts could negatively impact K-12 schools. In addition, large cuts to Medicaid would squeeze states’ Medicaid budgets and put pressure on state education budgets. Increases to the annual deficit might also affect annual appropriations funding decisions.

Executive orders The Department of Education’s anti-discrimination certification for states and school districts to complete was enjoined by three different federal circuit courts. As a result of the courts’ actions, the department is quietly letting the issue fade away.

All of Maine’s federal K-12 funding is under review because the Trump administration says they are in violation of Title IX for allowing a transgender student to play in a girl’s sport.

Three education-related executive orders were issued: 1) artificial intelligence in K-12 schools, 2) school discipline and 3) skilled trade jobs.

The department is also sending the states and districts a student privacy notice asking them to be mindful of complying with student privacy rules.

Recent Supreme Court cases There have recently been oral arguments in three Supreme Court cases concerning K-12 education:

• Mahmoud v. Taylor (parent opt-out options).
• St. Isidore v. Drummond (religious charter schools).
• A.J.T. v. Osseo Area Schools (special education student disability protections beyond IDEA).

Decisions on these cases as well as the constitutionality of the E-rate will be issued within the next four to six weeks and no later than the end of June.